Apparatus for producing ice.



PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

D. D. & P. L SPRAGUE.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING IGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Z/z'Zness e5.-

/, .ZJudZeyZZ ,Sprague. and Pea/26y JT Sp rague PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.D. D. & P. J. SPRAGUE. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ICE.v

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16, 19.06.

' ii 2 w ll/z'l'lz essea Ink Ilium? ji/zdlsyji. Spragzza a/ziPearleyffipmqzle 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.-

I :5 The apparatus is intended for use in the 16 for contro UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

DUDLEY D. SPRAGUE, OF' CALIFORNIA, AND PEARLEY J. SIPYRQAGUE, FGASHLAND, MISSOURI; SAID DUDLEY 1). SPRAGUE ASSIGNOR T0 SPRAGUE ICECOMPANY, or CALIFORNIA, MISSOURI.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ICE- No. 857,841. Specification of Patent.Patented June 25, 1907. Application filed June 16, 1906. Serial No.822.088.

To all whom it may concern: a artment 2, said i be' an brted by Be itknown that we, DUDLEY D. SPRAGUE h ngers 8. p pe mg pp and PEARLEY J.SPRAGUE, citizens of the 9 designates a air of vibratory sprinklersUnited States, residing at California and of U-form piv'ota y mounted inbearings 10, Gashland, in the counties of Moniteau and secured tocross-beams 11, and ha perfo- Clay and State of Missouri, have inventedrations 12 at their lower portioi tllrough certain new and usefulImprovements in A which the water is discharged in the form of paratusfor Producing Ice, of which the fol spray. The adjacentupper portions ofthe owing is a specification. I s rinklers are united by a T 13connected to 10 Our invention relates to an improved tile discharge endof pipe 7 by a hose or method of producing ice, and is based upon otherflexible member 14, so that said Tmay the well known fact that waterseparated into rock with the sprinklers. spray will congeal more rapidlythan when 15 designates an overflow pipe communipermitted to remain in alarge body. eating with pi e 7 and provided with a valve lling thequantity and pressure winter season to avoid the necessity of enrof thewater flowing to the sprinklers. In "ploying expensive machinery andrefrigerat verycold weather when the maximum voling agents for conealing the water, and it ume of wateris desired valve 16 is closed soconsists in means for conducting the water that the entire supplyfromthe um may 20 -to an inclosure, means for dischargin it inflow'through pi e 7 to the sprinkl ers, ut in the form of spray so thateach molec e will mild weather wl ien more time is consumed in beexposed to the freezing action of the atfreezing the water it ispreferable to reduce mosp ere, and means'for creating and forcing thevolume; consequently valve 16 is opened air-currents through the sprayto hasten the to permit part of the water to escape from 25 con ealingprocess; pipe 7 through the overflow pi e. In thus '1 e inventionconsists in the novel conregulating the flow of water to t e sprinklersstruction, combination and arrangement of the pump may be run atconstant speed, parts hereinafter described, ointed out in hencenecessity for varying the pressure of the claims, and illustratedin t eaccompanythe steam is obviated. 3o ingdrawings, and in order that it maybe Steam is conducted to steam-chest 17 of fully understood, referencewill now be made the pump through a suppl -pipe 18, and disto saiddrawings, in which charges therefrom through an exhaust-pipe Figure 1represents an irregular longitudi- 1S communicating with apipe 20through a nal sectional View of the invention taken on cross-couplin 21.Pipe 20 communicates 5 line I-l of Fig. 2. Fi .2 is a broken crosswithpipe 7 t ou h a T 22 and is provided section of the same, ta en on' lineII'II of with a valve for controlling the flow of 1 v Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is.a detail perspective view of steam therethrough. Pipe" 7 is provided asprin der and a fan forming part of the inwith valves 24 25 arranged atopposite sides vention. Fig.4 a perspective view of one of T 22, theformer beingv provided for the 4 ofaplurality of steam-pipes employed incarpurpose of regulating the ressure of the 0 rying out the invention.steam as ite iters pipe '7, while the latter is 1 designates a buildidivided into a conclosed to prevent steam from flowing downgealingapartment 2 an a pumping-room 3 wardly in said pipe and entering theoverby means of a partition 4. flow-pipe 15, or the suction side 0 thepump, 45 5 designates a water-supply pipe leading 26 designatesasteam-pipe provided with a to the suction side of a force-pump 6located valve 27 and leading from coupling 21 to a in room 3. I steamduct- 28 communicating with lateral 7 designates a pipe leading from thedisducts 29 spaced equal distances apart. All char e side of the pump tothe roof of the of said ducts are arranged in the floor of 5 buildingand thence into the congealing apartment 2 and have eduction ports 30cdm- I municating with sockets 31 arranged in the upper portion of thefloor for the reception of steam-pipes 32 closed at their upper endswith plugs 34 to prevent spray from entering therein or steam fromescaping therefrom.

The outer upward bends of sprinklers 9 are closed by plugs 35 to excludethe'water therefrom, and one of the terminals of the sprinkler at theleft side extends. into room 3 and is provided with a crank-arm 36 fixedthereto and connected to the wrist-pin of a disk 37 by means of aconnecting-rod 38L Disk 37 is fixed upon a shaft 39 journaled in 11standard 40 and driven by a suitable motor, not shown. Crank-arm 36 isprovided with a series of holes 41 for the reception of a pin 42adjustably securing the connecting-rod to said crank-arm so that thesweep of the sprinklers may be varied in length.

43 desi nates a pair of fans extending downwardly between the U-shapedportions of the sprinklers and provided with clips 44 pivoted thereto sothat they may be swung outwardly into engagement with the sprinklerswhen it is desired to have the fans vibrate therewith. The pivoted endsof said clips are held in frictional contact with the fans by bolts 45so they will remain in any p0s1- tion placed.

Fans 43 are fixed at their upper ends to a shaft 46 mounted in bearings10 and having one end extending into room 3 and provided with acrank-arm 47 fixed thereto. \Vhen it is desired to operate the fansindependently of the sprinklers crank-arm 47 is connected to the wrlstinof a disk 48 by a connectingrod 49. isk 48-is'fixed upon a shaft 50journaled in standard 40 and driven by the motor. I

Crank-arm 47, like arm 36, is provided with a series of holes 51 for thereception of a .pin 52, sothat the sweep of the fans may be engthened orshortened If any ice should form in the sprinklers 9, it may be thawedout by opening'valve 16, closing valve 25, and opening valve 23, so thatsteam may flow to the sprinklers through pi ies 20 and 7 n practice,pipes 32 are 'set upright in sockets 31, so that a portion of the spraywill freeze thereon in the form of columns 33 and thus in the aggregateafford a large frozen area for the spray to impinge against as it fallsfrom the sprinklers. This frozen area hastens the process of congealingthe spray, and, if desired, it may be increased by lacingice-cones,-previously frozen in suitab e cans, among the pi es. As thesprinklers vibrate theywill distribute the spray uniformly upon thefloor, the columns, and the cones, while the currents of air created bythe vibrating fans will intermingle with and chill the descending sprayso that it will congeal almost immediately upon striking said objects.Ice is permitted to form until it reaches theupper ends of the pi es 32when the supply of water to the sprin lers is cut off preparatory toremoving said pipes. Valve 27 is then opened so that steam may'flow intoducts 28 29 and enter the pipes, which are heated until the surroundingice is su'lliciently melted to permit their withdrawal there from. Thefreezing process continues until the ice has reached the desired levelwhen further operations are suspended.

If desired strips 53 may be laid upon the ice at regular intervals todivide it into lavers so that it may be readily cut into blocks'preparatory to removing it from the building,

From the above description it is apparent that we have produced a methodfor economically manufacturing commercial ice, and while we have shownand described the preferred apparatus for darrying out our method, we,of course, reserve the right to make such changes as properly fallwithin the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secureby Letters-Patent, is

1. In an apparatus for producing ice, the

combination of a sprinkler, a pipe for conductin water or steam theretoa valve for contro ing the flow of water or steam through said pipe, aforce-pump to which said pipe is connected, an overflow-pipecommunicating with the first-mentioned pipe, and a valve for controllingthe flow of water through said overflow-pipe.

2. In an apparatus for producing ice, the combination with an inclosure,of a sprinkler for discharging water therein, ducts arranged at thebottom of the inclosure, means for conducting a heating agent to said'ducts, and steam-pipes adapted to. be placed in communication with theducts, for the purpose described.

3. In an apparatus for producing ice, a vibratory'sprinkler, a fanarranged-adjacent thereto, means for connecting said fan to thesprinkler'so that it will vibrate therewith, and means for vibratingsaid fan independently of the sprinkler.

4. In an apparatus for producing ice, the combination of sprinklers 9, aforce pump 6, a conducting pipe connecting the sprinklers with the forcepump, a by-pass pipe '20, communicating with the conducting p1pe, anoverflow pipe 15 also communicating with the conducting pipe, a valve25, a valve 16, and steam valves 23' and 24, arranged and operated asshown and described.

5. In an. apparatus for producing ice, in combination, a vibratorysprinkler, a pipe for conducting water thereto, means for forcing waterthrough said pipe, means for regubratory sprin lating the flow of waterthrough said pipe, a fan, and clips for connecting said fan to thesprinkler. 6. In an apfilaratus for producing ice, a .vi er, a fanarranged adjacent thereto, means for connecting said fan to the 1sprinkler so that it will vibrate therewith,

and means for varying the sweep of the sprinkler.

7. In an apparatus for producing ice, a vibratoi'y sprinkler, a fanarrange adjacent thereto, means which connect said fan to the sprinklerso that it will vibrate therewith;

and columns arranged beneath the sprinkler to receive a therefrom.

In testimony whereof I afliz; my signature in the presence of twoWitnesses.

DUDLEY D: SPRAGUE. Witnesses:

WM. 0. Elton, D. W. SARTAIN. In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein the presence of two Witnesses.

PEARLEY J. SPRAGUF). Witnesses: v 1

OREN J. MOORE, WAYNE E. ESTER.

portion of the'spray discharged .15"

